Forbidden Destiny
by lustless envy
Summary: While it's no secret that Lord Kougaiji has struggled to understand youkai's hatred of humans, recent events have now caused him to consider his feelings. As a prince, its down to him to lead his people, but with his heart heading one way and the Minus wave dragging him the other, will he recognise his own feelings in time? And more importantly, will he accept them? Kougaiji x Oc
1. Chapter 1

"What do you mean?!" kougaiji demanded. The demonic prince was stood with his back to the cliff wall, his deep red hair whipping around his face despite the band on his brow. His arms were outstretched for stability, the tips of his long pointed ears were noticeably lower as he snarled at the only other sane being for miles around. One of his sharp canine teeth was on show from how his lip curled up in irritation and annoyance.

"I mean exactly and precisely what I said!... Don't look at me like that... Please Kou...how was i supposed to know?" the other person whimpered, their eyes closed tight in terror. She was the other reason he had his arms were stretched out across the cliff face behind him as her delicate fingers caught in his long fingers, his talon like nails catching the fading sunlight. He looked back at her as he raised his gaze from their entwined fingers, his eyes settling on her face and he was reminded all too well of the damage he could cause her with only his nails as a weapon.

He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the memories that started to shift with the disturbance of these thoughts. it made him think back to when he'd first met Yuki, as the girl called herself.

It had been a cold and misty morning. kougaiji and his group had followed the sanzo party into a valley that was shrouded in mist and fog. there had been rumours of another sanzo priest with a holy scripture so it made sense to the youkai prince to challenge both priest and take the scriptures. killing two birds with one stone as the humans called it.

There was just one real draw back to this plan though and that was the fog. it was so thick that it made following the sanzo party near impossible, let alone keeping his own group together. after an hour of chasing the sanzo party kougaiji finally confronted a member of the sanzo party. as luck would have it, it was Gojyo. the charismatic red headed hanyou was quick to attack and, though kougaiji was stronger and the fight quickly over, the prince had taken some damage. he never aimed to kill unless there was no other way, so he left the exhausted but still very much alive Gojyo by the side of the road and continued slowly on his way.

With his injury, the prince's plan had changed and he planned to attack sanzo on his own. bound by his honour, Kou would fight the priest on one to one before taking the scripture but for this to happen he may have to run away with the priest.

Yes it was all coming together as he limped along and things started to look up as the mist started to part and he saw ahead a blonde slender figure with a golden crown on their head, wearing white robes and carrying a scripture on their shoulders. by their side were two more people, one tall and willowy and the other short and rushing ahead like a child.

Kou had smiled to himself at his luck and, gathering all his strength and energy, rushed forwards at the three people. the blonde priest had turned just as Kou lowered his shoulder, while running, lifted the person onto his shoulder unceremoniously, and darted off. as he ran he heard several things such as the clatter of the crown as it hit the ground and the gasp from the person slung across his shoulder, not to mention the screams from the two people who had been with sanzo... that's when it occurred to him; hakkai is a man who, even with his lighter than usual voice still wouldn't scream like that, secondly, goku would have run after him not away from him and thirdly, but most oddly, was sanzo. it was hard to explain but he'd expected the priest to... well... to be heavier and to be swearing more and also to be hitting and kicking in wanting to be put down. but he wasn't and, if anything, the priest was rather easy to carry.

Kou finally stopped as they got to the edge of the mist and put sanzo down. he'd expected some retaliation but wasn't ready to receive the swift slap across the face before he'd been able to get a good look at his 'hostage'.

"How dare you! Who the devil do you think you are? you could have seriously injured your back carrying me like that!" Kou heard the sweet female voice and slowly raised his gaze to look at her. he took in the long length of her legs as the wind whipped towards her. his eyes drifted further skywards and took in the curve of her hips, her slender waist and higher yet to her small but perk chest that was hidden by the golden plated breastplate that resembled the sanzo he was after. further skyward he took in her sloping shoulders, slender neck and finally her cute face. she had ash mauve eyes with naturally long lashes, natural porcelain skin, lush red lips and flowing golden locks helped set her face. yes, for a human girl she was certainly cute.  
"Well? what do you have to say for yourself?!" She demanded, folding her arms and holding herself in such a way that demanded respect. it took kougaiji a moment to collect himself but he quickly recovered and stood proud before her, "you have no idea who I am don't you?" He demanded. "no, should i?" she asked. kougaiji wasn't used to her indifferent response so had to ask, "do you know what I am?"  
At this she frowned in thought then surprised the prince by raising her hand. she didn't slap him but ran her hand across his cheek to his ear. Kou felt himself blush from her gentle touch, he wasn't used to the soft and sweet smelling skin of a human being so close. "an elf maybe?" She mused, bringing her hand away. her words shocked kougaiji who stared at her wide-eyed, "a... an elf?" He repeated. She nodded "I don't know what else has pointed ears." she said honestly. "I'm not an elf. my name is kougaiji. prince kougaiji. prince kougaiji of the youkai." he practically growled proudly. "the youkai? who's that?" She asked. "You're kidding. you really don't know what a youkai is?" he asked. The young woman shook her head, "I don't get to see many people and there's no longer any men at the village so you're the first I've spoken to... though I was on my way to meet a peer of mine until you ungraciously carried me off." she explained. "So... are you even a priest?" he asked with a frown. "no, don't be silly, I'm not a priest." she smiled which caused Kou to feel himself blush again though he was relieved to hear her say that but she quickly brought him down, "only men can be priest. I'm a high priestess, lady Sanzo Yuki." she said, bowing and, as was typical of the country, putting her last name first.

Kougaiji stood there, watching her and taking all this in. 'Well... she is a Sanzo and has a scripture after all. She's so naive that she'd probably just give it to me if I asked nicely.' he thought as he tried to decide what to do next but she broke his train of thought. "Oh, Kougaiji! You're hurt! I knew carrying me so recklessly like that would do some damage!" she exclaimed having noticed the tear in his trouser leg and the blood on his calf. She knelt down before him as he came back from the thoughts, just in time to see her pull his trouser leg up, rip the hem of her robe all the way around the base and then use this to bandage his bleeding leg. He was at a complete loss for words. Unlike his father, he'd never felt strongly one way or the other about humans. They were just there, like ants, and didn't bother him... but why was she being nice and helping him? She said she didn't know what a youkai was and she also claimed to have never met a man before so... was she really clueless to the things he could do? Well, not just him but any man? He felt sick at how twisted the Sanzo party were and thought her almost lucky to get dragged away by him... not that she knew this of course.

"Well... do take better care of yourself Kougaiji. Goodbye." she bowed politely and started walking back the way he had brought her. "Wait!" Kou called after her before he could stop himself but it was already too late, she had vanished into the mist.


	2. Chapter 2

Kougaiji recalled how he hadn't managed to get her scripture that day or meet up with Sanzo either as he was brought back to reality and the seriousness of their situation. "I just... I don't understand..." Her voice made him look back at her. "Really. You don't understand?" he hissed in disbelief but relaxed his glare when she looked at him with tear-filled eyes, "Don't be mean ok? No one's here to care how you act towards me so drop it please." she begged him, pouting slightly as she tried to keep from crying. "Sorry... I'm just feeling nervous." he apologised, not sure how to explain himself. "Well that's understandable... we're inches away from falling." Yuki said softly, her words reminding him that she was terrified of heights. "That's not it." Kou sighed softly, "I guess I'm nervous because... what happened to everyone... who's to say it won't happen to me?" Almost before the last word came out of his mouth she looked at him with wide eyes in shock, "Don't say that! It's not going to happen! I won't allow it! You have to hang on to yourself Kou, Please! I don't wanna be alone!" she pleaded, her hand taking his. He could feel her trembling and he gently clasped her hand in return, "I'll do my best." he said and she smiled in slight relief at his promise. "I hope Sanzo is ok..." she said. Kou had started to smile because she was smiling but that soon fell as Sanzo was mentioned. That guy always got in the way of everything. It would be easier for Kou if Sanzo had been killed but, on the same hand, Sanzo was probably one of the few who knew how to reverse the effects of the Minus wave.

"First thing's first, before we worry about him we need to get off here and far enough away from them so they stop hunting us." Kougaiji said calmly. He used the word 'us' but the reality was 'you'.

It had all started two days ago now. Around midnight Kougaiji's group had attacked the sanzo party... basically the usual stuff, the only difference was that they had to stop due to a sudden freak storm. Yuki had huddled close to Sanzo out of the way and under a large tree to get out of the sudden painful downpour of rain. Goku had kicked Kougaiji hard in the stomach against a tree not far from the two humans so he had just missed getting soaked. All fighting had stopped as the rain started to fall and the youkai (and hanyou) had stopped to look up at the skies. Sanzo had questioned what the idiots were doing but it had been Yuki who'd shouted out to them.

"Goku! Gojyo! Hakkai! Guys, get out of the rain! You'll catch a cold!" she shouted, being her usual caring self. "You too Yaone, Dokugakuji and Lirin! Fall back!" Kougaiji shouted to his group. Those out in the rain slowly turned their heads to look at Kougaiji, Sanzo and Yuki but something was clearly different as the rain stopped as quickly as it had started. They all had a demonic but vacant look in their eyes and their mouths curled to form sadistic smiles. "Shit." Sanzo had taken his Sutra off and placed it around Yuki's neck then had just enough time to swear before throwing Yuki sideways out of the way, at Kougaiji by accident, before one of Hakkai's energy blasts hit the tree where they'd been stood. "Hakkai?! What...?" Yuki started to shout but Sanzo interrupted her, "It's the minus wave. Yuki get the fuck out of here." he said as he slowly backed away. "But..." she started to protest. "Kougaiji. I don't ask favours but get her out of here!" Sanzo demanded. Kougaiji didn't think twice so picked her up and ran. Unlike when he'd first met her, she was now screaming for Sanzo and demanding that Kougaiji put her down. Thinking about it now, Kou wasn't sure why he had listened to Sanzo when he didn't have to. He could have easily pulled the sutra from her shoulders and ran. It would have been much easier. But he didn't.

Goku and Lirin had chased them for over an hour and, though Yuki was silent now yet still crying, they hadn't let up. Kougaiji had felt his stamina slip and knew he couldn't go on. That's when he'd ran to the peak of a hill, hoping to see somewhere below he could hide her in or somewhere he could at least make a decent stand. But it hadn't happened that way and the slope on the other side of the hill was so steep he lost his footing and gravity forced him to start running down it. He tried to stop but that made him slip and fall. The fall had thrown Yuki from his shoulder and he had leapt to try to catch her hand to keep her close but had found that the grassy slope under him had vanished. He vaguely remembered pulling Yuki to his chest and throwing his spare hand against the cliff wall to stop himself. Still, they had gone twenty foot or so down before they had come to a stop, clinging to the cliff. He had looked across, expecting to see a scared Yuki crying in his arms but was surprised that it wasn't so. She was, indeed, still in his arms but she had her opposite arm outstretched like he did with a scythe in her hand. It was Gojyo's and, while she couldn't use it the way he could, she had somehow managed to get hold of it as they ran away and was now using it to keep them close to the cliff wall though it had done a great deal of damage to her wrist in the process.

That was when she had looked at him, tearfully and admitted her fear of heights. Not that he had heard it first time but rather she had turned to him and asked "When the hell did you grab that?" She had sniffed and replied "You mean... just before we ran into the thicker part of the woods, you didn't feel something dragging on us?" Kougaiji shook his head. "Serious? Gojyo launched an attack at us! The chain on his scythe wrapped around my wrist and nearly broke it before you pulled me hard enough to snatch it out of his hands!" She tried to explain but sighed and stared at the rocky face before her, "Well... my wrist is broken now... so... yeah..." she uttered. Kougaiji let his eyes drift back to her wrist and now knew what the smell was that had caught in his nose. It was blood and it was slowly trickling down her arm. He felt confused. How could the chain cause that much damage when they had stopped falling now... they had stopped hadn't they? It was then that he finally looked down and saw that her feet weren't touching the small rocky ledge his feet had caught onto. It was a smooth slab of rock Yuki rested against.

Kougaiji felt sick as he looked back up and saw her skin tear, causing more blood to flow down her arm. "Hey. Do you trust me?" he asked slowly, looking away from her. "Excuse me?" she sniffed, really trying not to cry. "I said. Do. You. Trust. Me." he said through gritted teeth. "Ah... erm... Yes... of course." Yuki agreed though felt worried about what he was planning. "Good. Because I'm going to swing you." he said calmly. "Swing me?" she repeated, not understanding. "On three." Kougaiji confirmed. "Three?" She asked, wishing he'd explain. "One..." Kougaiji started. "Swing me? On three?" Yuki tried to make him explain. "Two." Kougaiji said, again quite calmly. "Swing me where!" Yuki whimpered. "Three." Kougaiji said. "Three...?" Yuki had started to say but mid word Kougaiji pulled her away from the wall, effectively throwing her off the cliff, ignoring her scream though it hurt his ears, and managed to swing her round to his opposite side, spinning on the spot as he did so. That was how they ended up in their current predicament... with their backs to the cliff, alone, arms outstretched for balance.

"so...your wrist. You said its broken right?" Kougaiji asked to help keep her mind off the 'what ifs' and calm her down from the ordeal of being swung off the end of a cliff. Yuki nodded. "I don't know much about humans... Will it ever heal?" He continued. "ahu... If I rest it and keep it perfectly still in a cast." She confirmed. Kou felt a little better for hearing that as he'd learned that humans were very fragile. "We'll give it a few more minutes then I'll take a look around ok?" He asked. Yuki nodded.

They waited in comfortable silence for a while...albeit that Yuki had her eyes closed, but the comfort came for Kougaiji in the form of simply holding her hand. When some time had passed Kougaiji slowly let go of her hand. She looked across at him with a panicked expression. Kougaiji smiled to soothe her as he pulled his white scarf from the straps on his jacket and passed it to her. She took it with her now free hand but looked at him confused. "Keep hold of that for me. You look cold so it'll keep you warm and, as long as you've got that I'll always be close by. I never abandon my property." He explained with a slight smile as he saw her blush. His words had left her speechless so he just turned slowly to face the wall, "If it's all clear I'll come back down for you." He promised as he started climbing up. Yuki watched him as long as she could then waited in silence for him to return. She was surprised at the comfort his scarf brought and how his words played on repeat in her head.

After a short time Kougaiji climbed back down. "it's empty up there so we should be safe." He told her. "Great. We need to find somewhere safe to sleep tonight." She said. "Yes. So what are you waiting for?" Kougaiji asked. Yuki looked at him in confusion. "Well it's not like you can climb back up using that wrist right? So, the only way you can get back up there is if I carry you." He said kindly. "you don't mind?" She asked shyly, shuffling a little closer along the ledge. "If I minded then I wouldn't have offered." He said taking her hand and putting it on his shoulder. "you'll have to swing around onto my back. Can you manage that much?" He asked. She nodded slightly and moved until her body was close to his. "Just wrap your arms around my neck and hang on ok? I won't drop you." He promised. Yuki nodded and hesitantly swing herself around and wrapped her arms around his neck, using the pole part of Gojyo's scythe to help keep her on as her hand was practically useless. Kougaiji found himself blush hard as he felt her body press against his back but he managed to shake it from his mind as he started the climb back up. Once at the top he let her down and she stood next to him, holding her painful wrist as they looked around. "Looks like its going to rain again." She said as they set off together. "It's best if we avoid it if possible." Kougaiji agreed.

They walked with purpose through the woods, back the way they came. Yuki stuck close to Kougaiji's side, expecting him to ask for his scarf back but he didn't. "Finally! Some luck!" Kou finally broke the silence as he pointed out a cave up ahead. "let me go check it out first to make sure it's safe." He started saying. "No. Last time I was in shock but if there's anyone ahead who means us harm...well I want to be at your side to help. I'm not as weak and pathetic as you might expect of humans, or women. There's a reason I'm Sanzo's right hand man... er I mean woman." She said firmly with a determined tone as she started forwards to the cave. Kougaiji was shocked by her words and, in truth, he had often mentally questioned why Sanzo kept Yuki so close when he'd never witnessed her actually fight, but he shook it from his mind and hurried after her... especially when she started running into the cave. Kou panicked and rushed to catch up but what he saw when he got close to the cave shocked him into stopping dead in his tracks.


	3. Chapter 3

"Yuki! Don't run off on your own, it's dangerous." Kougaiji scolded her when he caught up to her just inside the cave. He didn't say it but he was glad they'd found the cave as it had started raining and he took Yuki as the type of girl to complain a LOT if she was wet or cold or hungry. "Sorry...but look who I found!" She said, kneeling down. "The dragon, I get it, but you should be more cautious." He sighed, having looked over her shoulder as she picked the little dragon up and stood up with it in her arms. "Hakuryuu isn't just some dragon...besides, he's harmless. He'd never hurt us." She said as the dragon nuzzled against her, happily chirping in delight of finding her. "That's not what I mean. It belongs to Hakkai so-" he stopped short as she held Hakuryuu up to face Kougaiji. "How can you possibly think something as adorable as Jeep is dangerous?" She pouted. Kougaiji looked at the dragon, unimpressed with her ignoring him.

Hakuryuu stretched his head out and sniffed at Kou's nose. Kougaiji stared back as Yuki watched, "See? He likes you." The interaction was just too cute... or it was while it lasted as Hakuryuu ended the greeting by biting Kougaiji's nose. "Ahh! The fuck?!" Kougaiji exclaimed as Hakuryuu retreated and coiled around Yuki's neck, hissing constantly at the prince. "Kougaiji, you scared him..." Yuki said, petting the dragons head gently, trying to soothe him while Hakuryuu continued to hiss threats at Kou. "I scared him? I. Scared. Him?!" Kougaiji was fuming. "It just bit me! And you're taking its side?!" He snarled. Yuki hung her head and avoided looking at him, even taking a step back from him. Kou knew instantly that he'd been too harsh but he was still angry so he took a few deep breaths before speaking to her again.

"When he bit me you were staring... What were you staring at?" He asked, changing the subject to help calm down. Yuki didn't answer so he leaned forwards and ran his finger from her jaw by her ear (the opposite side to where Hakuryuu's head was mind) down to her chin and applied just enough pressure to make her look up at him. He was slightly surprised that she flinched when his finger touched her skin. Now she was looking at him, albeit with a worried expression, he leaned forwards and started again. "I've got two questions now. Firstly, what were you staring at?" He paused, wanting to make sure she answered both questions. "Ah...it...was your ears..." She muttered, still trying not to stare at him though he kept the pressure applied to her chin which gave her little choice. "My ears? Why? You can't say you've only just noticed they're not small and pathetic like yours. I can actually hear things with them." He growled slightly. Yuki swallowed, "No...it's nothing bad-." She started but he interrupted her. "Then what?" He persisted. "Cute." She almost whispered, closing her eyes. "...Cute?" Kou repeated. "I... I didn't realise they moved with your moods and facial expression." She explained quickly. Kou leaned back slightly, a little surprised by her comment and slowly dropped his hand. "They perked up when Hakuryuu was sniffing your nose and they flattened back when he bit you... I've never seen them move before so... it looked cute." she uttered shyly. Kougaiji was lost for words.

"So what was the second question?" Yuki asked in the silence that followed her explanation. Kougaiji had been shocked by her response that it took him a moment to gather his thoughts to answer. "You flinched... before, when I touched you." he started saying. "I want to know why. Are you afraid of me? Because you said before that you aren't. So either you are afraid and you're lying to me, or you aren't and it's because of something else." he said, trying to be serious and act like her comment about him being cute, or rather having cute ears, hadn't affected him. Yuki stared at the ground again but unlike before, where she'd been embarrassed to say, this time it was obvious she was thinking about how to answer him. "Its... complicated." she uttered after a while. "And a long story." she added. Kougaiji sat down on a rock by the side of the cave, "Well it's pouring it down now and night has fallen so I'm not going anywhere." he said. "What I mean is... it's not a story that everyone is aware of." she said, playing with her fingers as Hakuryuu watched her from ther shoulder. "So? It's not like I talk to anyone else that you might know or who would tell anyone you know." Kougaiji said, letting his curiosity get the better of him now. He hated secrets being kept from him. "Even sanzo doesn't know. If he knew he'd be really angry." she uttered, running a hand through her hair. "I don't think you've noticed but Sanzo and I aren't friends. We don't talk, just fight. It's part of being enemies. You might even be surprised to find that he isn't on my christmas list either." Kougaiji said, trying to make it very clear now that whatever it was he wouldn't tell a soul.

"You promise?" she asked, looking up at him with her large, gentle, ash mauve eyes. "I'm a prince. I'm bound to my word by honor that means more to us than life itself." he bowed slightly, doing so simply so she wouldn't see the effect she had on him when she looked at him that way. Yuki walked over and sat beside him, not on the same rock or even on one of equal height, but on the floor and leaned slightly against the rock he was sat on. "Sanzo can never know." she said as though to reaffirm this much. "You have my word that I will never mention whatever it is you say to me." he vowed. Yuki took a deep breath before explaining herself as Hakuryuu moved from her shoulders to sit on her lap.

"I'm not afraid of Youkai. Nor hanyou. Nor Human. What I fear... besides heights... is men." she said softly and slowly. "I'm sure you're aware that when I was little my parents gave me up to the high priestess. She took me in and raised me until I was fifteen. Because of how long I was with her and the training I received, she brought me with her to many temples. She finally stopped and settled down at the same temple Sanzo lived at with his master for a couple of years. It was during the times that we were traveling that I was often attacked and abused by monks in the monastery and it only ended when my mistress died, leaving me at the temple where I first met you. I hated being left alone... I hated men until I met Sanzo and his master. When my mistress died I sent all the monks at the temple I was staying at away... just so I could feel safe." she wrapped her arms around herself now.

Kougaiji could feel the wind pick up but couldn't feel the cold of it so knew it wasn't from the cold itself but rather the memory. "They attacked you? And abused you? And Sanzo doesn't know?" Kougaiji asked slowly. Yuki shook her head. "Don't you think he deserves to know? He is your husband right?" Kougaiji asked. Yuki shook her head again, "No. Not at all really. We're engaged but that's so people leave us both alone. It's just a front. He thinks of me as his little sister so anything more than holding hands is beyond his capacity." She said. "So...you won't get married? How about... you know... 'relations' with him?" Kougaiji asked, choosing his words carefully but he was glad to see the blush on her cheek matched his. "Since I'm quite aware that once we've dealt with your father I will die, I want to experience as much as I can, even if it's just once. So, although there's no love between us, I would love to get married to him... maybe even have children of my own. But it's impossible to have...'relations' with him. We've tried before but everything just felt so wrong. It's sad that the only experience I've had with a man have been unwanted on my part." She said with a nervous and forced smile to him, as though to prove it wasn't as bad as she said though Kougaiji saw through it and could see the smile was simply to hold back any tears that might fall.

"Yuki. Don't smile if you don't feel happy It makes you look ugly. And don't think that if you get upset around me that I'll care." Kougaiji said softly, putting his hand on her head. "I know what its like to be used. You and I, we're not so different." He added. Yuki looked back at him as he spoke, tears in her eyes. He wasn't sure why but he leaned forwards and let his forehead touch hers. It was a very warm moment they shared. Kougaiji felt he understood Yuki a lot better now and it had somehow lifted a weight from his chest to find out the truth of Sanzo's relationship with her. "My stepmother treats me as if I were a doll. Just something she can use and throw aside as she wishes... she treats Lirin the same and other youkai are just as expendable. They're simply worker bees to her as she sees herself as the queen bee." he said softly.

"You feel cold..." Kougaiji said when he moved his head away. Yuki put a hand to her forehead, "Maybe just a little..." She agreed. A slightly heavy weight that instantly warmed her shoulders made her look back at him again. "I don't feel the cold like you." He said, taking his hands away from her, leaving behind his white jacket over her shoulders to keep her warm. Yuki blushed lightly, "That's so kind of you, Kougaiji, Thank you." she smiled. "Now if only it would stop raining... then I could go out and find firewood and maybe something to eat." she said. This made her demon friend frown, "You're hungry? Already?" he asked. Yuki brushed it off though, "Only a little bit. That's what happens when you have a high metabolism rate. You eat little but often." she said then added, "Well... since we can't go anywhere while it's raining I'm going to try to get some sleep... you should do the same too ok?" she yawned, curling up with his jacket. "I'll watch while you sleep if it's all the same." he replied. "Suit yourself. Wake me up when you want to sleep though so I can watch... Good night Kougaiji." She said. Kou smiled and sat back on his rock, "Good night Yuki. Sweet dreams."

Kougaiji waited half an hour, to make sure she was asleep before going to the entrance to the cave. He paused at the opening and looked back at the human girl and the little dragon that was curled up on her. "Come and find me if anything happens." he told the dragon though he was unsure if Hakuryuu could understand him. With that said, he went out into the stormy night. He had set his mind firmly on seeing Yuki smile again. And the only certain way to do so was to bring back a little present for her... the only question was, what would he find out here that would work?


	4. Chapter 4

Yuki woke up to the warmth and smell of fire a few hours later. It's natural for a human, under most circumstances, to be fearful to wake up to such a scent so, naturally, she sat bolt upright and looked around fearfully for the source. Not far from her sat the fire in question, freshly made and being tended to by none other than prince Kougaiji. "Kougaiji! What? When? I mean, how? How did you find dry firewood in this weather? And more to the point, something to light it with?" She asked as she straightened her thoughts in order to ask him a sensible question. "I lit it myself, it's no big deal." He shrugged. "How? With matches? or a lighter? I didn't think you smoked." She said edging closer, quite obviously curious. Kougaiji blushed lightly and prodded the fire with a stick. She seemed impressed with his handy work so far, so that was a definite plus. "No, I don't smoke... I'm a fire youkai... it's kind of what I do. So it was no trouble finding the wood and drying it out then lighting it out." He said... Ok so he lied about it being easy, anyone can tell you that drying out soaked wood is not easy or quick, but seeing the sweet smile on her face made him want to see it stay there.

"A fire youkai? I know you are one, I just wasn't aware you could use it practically. I thought it was just for fighting with." She said slowly, feeling a little stupid. Kougaiji smiled and, for once, couldn't help showing off as he 'accidentally' dropped the stick he'd been using into the flames then, quite calmly, reached into the fire with his bare hand and picked it out again. He glanced at her as he did so and found himself enchanted by the look of awe on her face. "There's never much reasonable and use for fire so it's hardly surprising you've only seen me fight with it." He shrugged slightly. Yuki nodded and sat watching the flames. "So... that... touching the fire, that didn't hurt you?" she had to ask, her eyes on his had. Though the fingertips were slightly blackened from the ash, his hand was otherwise indifferent to the intense heat of the fire. "Yes, see for yourself." he offered, holding his hand up to show her. He had expected her to just look at it from where she sat so was surrprise when she moved closer and took his hand with both of hers. She slowly turned it this way and that, always being gentle with him, her eyes looking over every centimeter of his hand and her fingers sought to find any trickery behind it. When she was satisfied that it hadn't hurt him she let go of his hand and placed both her hands on her lap

A comfortable silence fell between them until Kougaiji finally couldn't hold back any longer and had to yawn. "I guess it's my turn to sleep now. Don't let me nap too long ok?" He said, though he hated to leave her alone even if he was only going to be sleeping. He stretched and lay down, staring at the roof of the cave. Yuki moved closer to him so her knees were beside his head and smiled down at him. Kou smirked back, "What? Lonely already?" He asked, trying to tease her like he'd seen Gojyo do to girls... he believed this was called 'flirting' and made a girl feel good about herself... or that's what he'd been told. Yuki shook her head, "No, but the floor doesn't make for a good pillow." She said softly. Then, gently, she lifted his head and moved her legs under so he was resting on her lap, so the top of his head was touching her stomach and her feet were under her ass. Kougaiji tried to resist the blush on his face, "Won't your legs ache sat like that?" He asked. Yuki shrugged, "Maybe a little but I'm used to doing this for Sanzo. It's the only way I can comfort him sometimes. Now you really should close your eyes and get some sleep. I don't want you to be exhausted during the day when I need you." She said, gently running her fingers through his blood red hair, something the prince found to be oddly relaxing. As Kougaiji fell asleep he thought about how Yuki compared to other girls he'd met and known. She was sweet, kind, gentle and honest, if a little naive. For once, of all the things that he thought about her as he drifted off, not once did he think 'but she's human'.

When Kougaiji opened his eyes, his sweet dream of waking up to see Yuki's smiling face were short lived as he was no longer resting on her lap. He sat up and looked around the cave. It was morning, the campfire had long since gone out, and there was no sight of Yuki. She was gone and had put his jacket under his head in place of her legs. He hoped she'd just got up to stretch her legs or something. He stood up in a panic and took a more serious look around the cave and realised slowly that this didn't seem to be so. Not only was Yuki missing, but the little dragon, Hakuryuu was gone too! What had happened? Where had she gone? Had she run away or been taken by force? Perhaps she'd been scared of Kou all this time and chosen to escape? Maybe Sanzo had shown up? ...

Kougaiji sat down and tried to remain calm. She must have gone on her own, otherwise he would have heard a commotion from at least the dragon. He picked up his jacket and looked around the area outside the cave. She wasn't in sight but Kougaiji did see something else that gave him some hope though it came in a form he wouldn't have thought of. It was a human town. Humans can't live without other humans; this is a simple rule all youkai believe in. So judging by this rule of thumb, Yuki must have gone there. Kougaiji put his jacket on and headed towards the human settlement. His subconscious was questioning his reasons for going to find her at all but his conscious told it to shut up and his pride, that had 'forced' him to look after her this far, agreed.

As Kougaiji walked into town the citizens started fleeing his path in terror. It confused the prince at first until he remembered that Yuki and Sanzo weren't scared of him because they weren't your typical humans. Most humans now feared youkai like Kougaiji. He walked down the main street, trying to ask the people if they had seen Yuki but the only replies were of screams of terror. One old woman stepped up to face Kougaiji though. "I am Yuki! Do what you will to me, vile demon, but leave these people alone!" She shouted defiantly. Kougaiji didn't look impressed and rolled his eyes, "You're not her." he sighed as he passed her. The poor old dear almost fainted from the experience and those that rushed to her aid were soon cursing Kougaiji for 'using his evil magic' against the poor defenseless, charming lady. Kougaiji shook his head. They didn't have a clue what true youkai magic looked like and she wasn't exactly what Kougaiji would call a 'charming lady' either, nor would they if they had gotten to know Yuki, in his opinion.

He was starting to loose hope after this but looked up in time to see a beautiful young blonde woman leave a shop with a bag in her arms and a little white dragon on her shoulders. She stopped and looked at him in surprise. "Kou?" She said softly in disbelief, not using his full name for fear of upsetting the people around them even more. "Y-Yuki... Yuki!" Kougaiji ran over to her in relief and embraced her. He held her tight to his body, one hand on her back, the other on her head, his own head bowed to meet her shoulder, his ears drooped slightly in relief. "What are you doing here?" She asked, trying to keep the bag from being crushed while Hakuryuu, who'd had to vacate her shoulder, hovered close by and hissed at the prince. "I woke up and you were gone!" He exclaimed. "What are you doing here? It's not safe to go out alone! You're only a human girl!" He protested, holding her at arms length now so he could look her over to judge if she was hurt at all. "I came to buy food... and I don't think you coming here was a good idea." She said, looking around at the angry mob that was forming. Kougaiji looked up too and smiled nervously, letting go of Yuki but holding her hand. "I've found my Yuki so we'll take our leave now. I apologise for any inconvenience caused." He said, bowing a little and slowly leading Yuki back through the mob towards the town entrance with the little dragon leading the way over the human's heads. Yuki felt the unease of the mob as she had no choice but to follow Kougaiji. She knew how this looked. She'd witnessed it once before herself. It looked, to the humans, like a despicable demon had kidnapped a young human and had made her his pet or slave and was taking her back after her brief escape. She tried to smile at them as she passed, hoping they wouldn't pay it much mind.

About half way there the mob turned and started after them, planning to drive him out and 'free' the girl in his clutches. "Time to go." Kougaiji said. Before Yuki could ask what he meant he picked her up, bridal style, and leaped up onto a rooftop and proceeded to run for the edge of town, jumping with ease between buildings, Hakuryuu following close behind. Yuki had screamed at first but he already knew it was due to her fear of heights. She clung to him with one arms, the other still holding her bag. Kougaiji finally stopped when they arrived back at the cave. "There, safe and sound." He said, putting her down carefully. "Idiot! What were you thinking, going into a human place like that?!" She demanded. Kougaiji felt suddenly ashamed, "I'm sorry... I know, I could have hurt someone... I wasn't thinking." He muttered apologetically. "Hurt someone? Kougaiji, forget hurting them, they could have hurt you!" She snapped, making him look up at her. "I thought... I thought you'd run away from me." He admitted. "Why on earth would I do that?" She asked. "Because you're scared of me. Because you think I'll turn against you. Because I'm not human." He said. "Kougaiji... I don't care that you're youkai, that's what makes you you." She said, her hands gently taking his head and making him look at her. "I would never run away from you..." She promised. Kougaiji put his hands on her cheek then slowly learned towards her. He'd never wanted something so badly from another being, especially not a human.

But just as their lips touched a voice came from the cave entrance and interrupted them and made Kougaiji stand before Yuki defensively. "Aha! Now I've found you!"


End file.
